“Boa—Tea” (1996) by Michael Massie. Sterling silver, ivory, tulipwood, from the Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, Memorial University Collection (Ned Pratt Photography)

The Labrador Inuit coastal region of Nunatsiavut officially became self-governed in 2005, following years of land-claim negotiations. Although Nunatsiavut’s autonomy is relatively new, its residents have been producing unique, but overlooked, art for generations. SakKijâjuk: Art and Craft from Nunatsiavut, an exhibition at the Rooms provincial art gallery in St. John’s, Newfoundland, aimed to correct this error by spotlighting the region’s traditional and contemporary artistic practices. Although SakKijâjuk, which means “to be visible,” was dismantled in January, a new book published by Goose Lane Editions continues to highlight the show’s 47 artists and craftspeople, who work in a variety of media, including sculpture, textiles, drawing, photography, and painting.

The coffee-table book has an airy, minimalist design, relying on plenty of white space for text that allows the full-colour photos of the artwork to dominate. Given the wide range of media, St. John’s photographer Ned Pratt, who shot the majority of the works over the course of five days, says each object required a unique approach, with sculpture being the most difficult but also the most rewarding. “You need to photograph from an angle that gives as much information about the piece, its scale and massing, because you really only get one crack at it,” he says. “You don’t get a front view and a side view. So finding the angle that represents the whole piece in a way you think the artist would approve of is a challenge.”

One of the pieces Pratt found trickiest to shoot was “Boa–Tea,” a 1996 sterling-silver teapot by Happy Valley silversmith and sculptor Michael Massie. “Silver is very hard to photograph,” says Pratt, “but [Massie’s] work is so streamlined and beautiful.” Black-stone sculptures, of which there were several in the show, are also difficult to light, he says. “You can put as much light on certain objects as you want and it doesn’t do anything. You have to light the environment that the object is in, as opposed to the object itself.”

Regardless of what he’s shooting, Pratt says it’s key that he documents the work without unintentionally altering the artist’s original intention. “You don’t want to photograph with a style that makes the photographer evident in the process,” he says. “You want the piece to be what people are thinking about, as opposed to the photo itself.”